


A Pretty Penny

by imagineteamfreewill



Series: The Switch [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Captivity, Contact Deprivation, Drugs, F/M, Food Deprivation, Monsters, Non-Sexual Bondage, Vomiting, Water Deprivation, being stripped by monsters (not sexually)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 13:05:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18550348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagineteamfreewill/pseuds/imagineteamfreewill
Summary: Because of their unique skill sets, hunters are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. After being captured by monsters shortly after the Switch, you find yourself with an owner who’s not all he seems.





	A Pretty Penny

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my tumblr account of the same name on October 28th, 2018.

You hated the chains. The rough black iron was like coarse sandpaper against the tender skin on the inside of your wrists and the sound of them clicking made you want to jump out the window.  _Not that there are any windows to speak of,_ you thought bitterly as you trudged down the dark, musty hallway. The monsters keeping you locked up had gotten rid of any and all ways that you could use for escape, whether that escape be dead or alive.

“Hurry up,” your jailer growled. He tugged on the heaviest chain, the one around your neck, and you stumbled forward. You sent him an angry glare as you regained your balance and began walking again, but he’d already turned his head and resumed his brisk pace.

Gritting your teeth, you tried to slow your steps as much as possible. You knew where he was taking you, and you wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

When you’d first been captured, you hadn’t originally thought that it would end up this way. You’d expected them to kill you, fillet you, or even swallow you whole. You’d seen enough monsters in your short time as a hunter to know what happened to the people they caught, but clearly you hadn’t seen monsters like these. No, these monsters were cruel, but they weren’t vicious and primal like the ones you’d faced in the past. They were a new breed of monster—the kind of monsters who’d quickly embraced the Switch and established themselves as the kings and queens of Earth. These monsters were cold, calculating, and more intelligent than you could’ve ever predicted. They starved you of food, water, and even contact with other humans. Your first few days in the compound had been pure torture.

Once they’d decided that you were weak enough, you were shoved into a small, windowless cell by a beefy, scale-covered creature that you’d come to know as the main jailer. He never gave a name, nor did you hear him referred to by one, but you started to call him ‘Liz’, mostly because of his lizard-like scales and forked tongue. He’d never openly protested the nickname, but the way he got riled up everytime was enough to encourage you to continue using it.

“Let’s go, 129,” Liz snapped. “The buyers are waiting.”

“Yeah, well, when you wake a lady up during her beauty sleep, you’ve gotta be prepared for her to be a little unruly,” you retorted.

Liz looked over his shoulder at you, his reptilian eyes narrowed into slits. “Watch your pretty mouth,” he warned. You shrugged in response, giving him a little smirk, and kept eye contact until he faced forward once more.

You soon came to a stop, and you felt your chest tighten and butterflies flutter to life in your stomach as Liz opened up the tall iron doors that separated you from the auction. They let out a heavy creak, the old hinges protesting the movement, and you swallowed hard. Anxiety over your uncertain future hadn’t even been a thought in your mind, at least until now.

Liz yanked you forward by your chains and you exhaled shakily, stepping forward before his tugging caused you to fall. As you moved, he watched you carefully to make sure that you wouldn’t try to escape, though you knew that that wasn’t an option. You wouldn’t be able to take all the monsters in the room on your own. So, you tried to remain as obedient as you could without losing the last shred of dignity you’d held onto all this time.

“And next we have Number 129! She’s headstrong, but responds well to deprivation! Her skills include hunting, lockpicking, translation, and spellwork! We’ll start out at our medium bid checkpoint,” the announcer called, startling you slightly as his voice boomed and echoed throughout the auction room.

Liz pushed you up onto a pedestal, then transferred his ends of the chains to iron loops on the floor. Before you had a chance to reposition yourself, the steel pedestal let out a loud grinding noise and began to move upward, elevating you so that you were eye level with the creatures that would be deciding your future.

Steeling yourself, you lifted your eyes and met the gaze of the monster right in front of you. They looked human enough, but the toothy, predatory grin told you more than you needed to know.

_Vampire,_  you thought, disgusted.  _Bidding on hunters? That’s a new low, even for them. They must be running out of fresh meat_. You smirked at the thought and the vampire let out a low growl. Clearly, he didn’t like that, and you laughed at his reaction.

He didn’t like that either.

The announcer continued to rattle off his prices as you shifted on the pedestal, careful not to move too much and lose your balance. You tuned into his enthusiastic voice for just long enough to hear that the bids were quick and high, and then you moved onto looking at the rest of the crowd.

More vampires, demons, and women you could only assume to be witches were gathered behind the thick metal guards that kept them from falling down into the bottom of the pit you’d entered from. You weren’t surprised to see that the demons were bidding the highest; they were notorious for scooping up hunters and using them as bait, or even possessing them and using their knowledge for their own devices. You’d heard of them using hunters as their personal mercenaries to take out other demons they held grudges against, and a small part of you wondered how long you’d survive if that was your fate.

The bids were beginning to slow as you finished your survey the room and the demons remained the top bidders. Dread settled in your stomach as you thought about what they would do to you. Just as the announcer was raising his gavel to finish your auction, a new voice called out, surprising everyone in the room.

“Five thousand in cash, one load of weapons, the bone of a major apostle, and three vials of virgin blood!”

For a long moment, the auctioneer didn’t speak, nor did any of the other creatures. Shocked, you turned until you noticed a tall, broad-shouldered man pushing through to the metal guardrail. You sucked in a breath, noticing the bright blue flash of his eyes. He was an angel, or at least he was possessed by one.

“Going once, going twice, sold! The handsome angel in flannel can collect his prize at our collection gate,” the auctioneer cried.

Your new owner met your eyes and you grit your teeth, shooting him the deadliest glare you could muster. He may have bought you, but you were determined to let him know from the start that you would never submit, no matter how terrified you were deep down inside.

Liz lowered the pedestal and took up your chains again, leading you out of the room. Before he pulled you out, you looked up at the angel once more, meeting his eyes. They were hazel now, you noticed, and your heart skipped a beat when you realized just how attractive he was. If the situation were different, he probably would’ve been the kind of man you tried to pick up in a bar.

“Let’s go, 129,” Liz gruffed, and you followed after him, your mind preoccupied with what came next.

You’d caught wind of the collection procedures from one of the other guards, and a shiver went down your spine as Liz began to lead you down the hallway to the preparation room. Inside would be a long metal table and two of the strongest creatures in the compound. They’d strip you and drug you, then put you in a container of some sort to be delivered to your new owner. When your owner was ready to wake you up, they’d inject you with a new drug. You’d heard that the people injected with the second kind of drug were almost always left with nasty side effects, some of which were permanent.

Your whole body tensed as Liz practically dragged you into the collection room. It looked like a morgue—all stainless steel and a long wall full of little doors. All of them were latched closed and you couldn’t help but wonder if there were people in them, people like you. The room was cold, and as soon as Liz hauled you up onto the table, you began to shiver. The thought of being drugged and stripped by the monsters was terrifying. In any other situation you’d try and defend yourself, but you had no weapons and you knew that you were weak. The consequences were too great.

“Her master doesn’t want the normal procedures. He sent these instructions,” one of the two bulkier creatures said. You watched out of the corner of your eye as he held out a piece of creased paper to the other.

“You know I can’t read, Maximus,” the second snarled. “Are we giving her the serum or not?”

Liz let out something akin to a sigh as he sidled up on your right and finished attaching your chains to the underside of the table.

“I can read,” he told them, holding out his hand expectantly. They handed him the paper after a minute. Turning your head ever so slightly, you watched with bated breath as his golden eyes ran over the words.

“No serum, and fully clothed. He wants her tied, with cuffs underneath the ropes.”

Your breath caught in your throat at Liz’s report. You wouldn’t be drugged? What kind of monster was stupid enough to tie up a hunter with only ropes and cuffs? You didn’t have your lockpick kit with you—they’d confiscated it along with the rest of your things—but you could most certainly run.

“Alright, princess,” Maximus snapped, his focus back on you. He dragged one long, clammy finger down from your forehead, across your cheek, and down the curve of your neck.

You bared your teeth at him, equally furious and disgusted. “You should be glad I’m saving my strength,” you growled.

He laughed. “I wish I could see the day when your master whips that spirit out of you.”

Just the thought of having such a cruel “owner" made a cold shiver run down your spine, and you sucked in a breath as Maximus grinned at you, clearly proud of the fear he’d instilled in you.

You were just about to snap out a reply when you felt a sharp prick at the back of your neck. Inhaling sharply, you realized that they’d drugged you as your vision began to grow fuzzy

“I’ll kill you,” you managed to get out. “One day I’ll kill you all.”

* * *

When you next opened your eyes, it was dark. The smell of static and plastic reached your nose, and after a brief moment of wiggling your appendages, you realized that you were tied up in a long box. Another second passed before you realized you were naked, and the sharp burn of bile rose in your throat. Unable to suppress it, you quickly tried to shift onto your side so you wouldn’t choke on your own vomit. There was no way to tell if there was anyone outside your tiny prison to overhear you, and there was no way to tell if they would even try to help you if they heard.

The box began to move and you found yourself falling for a brief second. You hit the side of the box with a thud and you groaned as your head smacked against the hard plastic. You threw up in the darkness, the acrid smell only driving you to vomit until your stomach was empty and tears streamed down your cheeks. The hot, wet contents of your stomach slid against your bare skin and you shuddered violently, squirming as much as possible to try and get away from it.

You were sobbing by the time the box began to move without any effort from you, and you were blinded when the lid was finally pried open, revealing the bright sun above, bordered by green tree leaves.

“They lied to me,” the man growled, and even before your eyes had adjusted you felt fabric being draped over your body. “I’m so sorry. I told them not to take your clothing.”

“You're— You’re sorry?” you choked out. Your eyes were still filled with tears as you looked up and met the gaze of the angel. He was even more beautiful up close, and if you hadn’t known any better, you would have said that the man wasn’t just a vessel, but rather a body created especially for his angelic inhabitant. Chestnut-colored hair brushed his shoulders as he peered down at you.

“Yes,” he sighed, reaching towards you. You flinched and he quickly retracted his hands, hurt in his hazel eyes. “Can you sit up? I’ll untie you as long as you don’t try to hurt me. If you do, it will be harder to get you someplace safe.”

You stared at the angel, unsure if you should trust him or not. You’d heard stories of how cruel angels could be, but a small part of you wanted to believe the stories you’d heard about angels when you went to church as a small child. Angels—the soldiers of God and the protectors of His people—could be kind, they’d said. The people at church had always told you that angels would protect you and watch over you, but the stories passed along from other hunters told you otherwise. What kind of angel was this one?

“Don’t touch me,” you spat as you jerked your bound wrists away from his hands. After a moment you struggled up into a sitting position, all the while trying to keep yourself covered with the scratchy canvas jacket he’d used to cover your naked form. You could feel vomit slip underneath your body and you tried not to gag at the wet sensation of it.  “I’ve heard about angels; I’m not stupid. You’re not going to possess me either, got it?”

The angel nodded. “I can’t possess you without your permission, Y/N.”

“Well…” You floundered for the right response, unsure now that your aggression was completely unnecessary. “Good.”

Smiling softly, the angel rounded the back of the car and tugged open the trunk. It creaked with age, but the cream-painted metal shielded you from his vision, and you took the moment to get your bearings about you.

You were clearly on the side of some road somewhere, and from the looks of the trees, it was still summer. That meant that you hadn’t been in the facility for as long as you’d originally thought.

“Here,” the angel said, his voice startling you. You looked up to find him watching you a few feet away from the bright blue plastic box you were still sitting in. His arm was outstretched, and in his hand he held a thick wool blanket.

“It’s probably a little warm for the weather,” he admitted, “but it’s big enough to keep you covered until I can get you some clothes that will fit. There are stores that cater to the needs of other angels and demons, and I know they sell clothing there.”

You stared at him for a moment, your wrists still holding the jacket against your chest in an attempt to stay modest. “I can’t stand if my ankles are tied,” you finally grumbled, realizing that no matter how much you wanted to avoid your new owner’s touch, you’d need his help to get out of this predicament. “But you should know that I will hurt you if I need to,” you quickly added. “So don’t try anything or I’ll knock your brains out!”

“You have my word,” he replied, a hint of amusement in his eyes. Gently, the angel dropped the dark brown blanket into your lap and moved to kneel beside the box, then pulled out a long, silver blade and used it to slice the ropes around your ankles. You were moving to stand when he grabbed your feet and began to rub the spot on your ankles where the ropes had been. You hissed, watching him rub the tender skin with a kindness you hadn’t expected.

“That’s enough,” you told him after a second, pulling your feet from his large hands.

_Very large hands,_  you noticed.  _Very large everything._

The angel cleared his throat and stood, then held out a hand for you. “I’ll help you stand and then untie you, but I’d like to leave the cuffs on until I’m sure you wont hurt me or Sam. You can sit in the front seat if you’d prefer.”

Confused, you shook your head and pushed yourself up after a bit of struggle. When you finally managed to balance on your feet and cover your entire body with the blanket again, you realized that the angel had politely averted his eyes, almost as if he didn’t want anything to do with your body. You’d heard horror tales of monsters doing things to their newly purchased hunters, but your owner seemed to want the exact opposite.

“Who’s Sam? Is he your vessel?” you asked. “We’re the only ones here. You never told me your name, either, unless  _you’re_  Sam.”

“My name is Castiel. My friends call me Cas, so you may call me that if you’d like. You seem to be someone who prefers nicknames,” the angel replied, evading your question. He raised one eyebrow at you and you had the fleeting thought that the expression didn’t quite fit his chiseled face.

“Alright,  _Cas,”_  you repeated, emphasizing the name enough that a flicker of irritation flashed across his face. “Why aren’t you trying to hurt me? Or take advantage of me, like the other monsters do whenever they buy someone?”

Castiel looked down at the roped binding your wrists, then gently took ahold of them, cutting them with the same long, silver blade. Your elbows pressed against the blanket, holding it to you as he maneuvered your hands.

“I’m not a monster,” he finally said. “My brothers and sisters… They made different choices than I did. They believed that they had only one path to take, but I learned that humans aren’t like as we were first told. Humans are… beautiful. They’re good, and they’re always trying to be better. They make mistakes, but they always try to fix them.”

You stayed quiet as Castiel carefully rubbed your wrists around the cuffs. His touch was gentler than you expected and after a few moments to make sure he wouldn’t hurt you, you found yourself watching Cas’ face with utter fascination. His eyes were like tiny sunflowers, or maybe kaleidoscopes, and the way his hair framed his face softened features that would’ve been harsh otherwise.  _Only an angel could be this beautiful,_  you decided.

A small smile quirked up the corner of Castiel’s lips. “I assume that you know I won’t hurt you, judging by the way you’re admiring my vessel,” he said, his voice low and teasing.

Embarrassed, you pulled your hands from his grasp and adjusted the blanket covering you. “How did you know that? Can you read minds?”

“To an extent,” Cas told you. He opened the passenger door for you and you slid in, being careful not to flash him as you climbed inside the cream-colored car.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you mumbled to yourself as you watched him walk around the front of the car towards the driver’s side.

“It means,” Cas began as he settled in his own seat, closing the door once he was inside, “that I can only read your mind if you’re thinking of me or to me.”

“So if I prayed to you…”

“I would hear it.”

You hummed in response and watched your blue box disappear in the side mirror as Cas pulled the car onto the road. It bounced beneath you more times than it should every time you went over a bump, and after the third time you ran over a tree branch in the road, you let out a quiet laugh.

“What?” Cas asked, glancing over at you in confusion.

“Nothing. It’s just… This is a  _pimp’s_ car, Castiel. You know that, right?”

He grumbled under his breath, irritation prevalent in his features. “So I’m told.”

Smiling to yourself, you looked back out the window, watching the trees fly by as Cas picked up speed. The world didn’t look any different than when you’d been captured, not really, nor did it look any different from before the Switch. Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory now ruled the earth, making monsters the dominant species. When it had first happened, you’d assumed that the world would become dark and gray, like in horror movies, but instead it all looked exactly the same. The only thing that was different was that the monsters in your closet and under your bed weren’t hiding anymore.

“Are you hungry?”

You looked over at Cas, blinking and pushing away memories of your life before the Switch. “Huh? What?”

“I asked if you were hungry,” he repeated, and you nodded in response. “I’ll get you food soon. I don’t eat. I did for a time, when I was human, but now everything tastes like molecules.”

You wrinkled your nose at his description. “Thank you,” you replied. Hesitating for a moment, you tried to think of all the possible outcomes of your new life with Castiel before continuing, “What do you plan to do with me? Am I going to be a… a  _toy_  for you to play with? Or are you going to make me work for you and hurt other people?”

Cas glanced over at you again and sighed, “No. I’m going to take you home.”

“To Heaven?”

“To Kansas.”


End file.
